


Changed in an instant

by violetbear



Series: Beyond all reason [5]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Introspection, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-15
Updated: 2018-11-15
Packaged: 2019-08-23 21:40:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16626911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violetbear/pseuds/violetbear
Summary: Scott thinks on how he came to be sitting at his desk filling out reports and what a single decision might have cost him.





	Changed in an instant

Seven days. It had been seven days since the exaltation facility. Seven days since he hadn’t listened to Jaal’s wishes to not destroy the facility. Seven days of being ignored.

He still thought he had made the right choice. Sure they could have saved hundreds but what of the thousands left behind. The Kett were closing in. They couldn’t rescue everyone. And those left behind...exaltation. Slavery or death. He’d choose death every time. Especially with what the Moshae had told him. The Kett remembered their past lives. Remembered but didn’t care. How could they do that? Kill their love ones without a thought or a care. He hadn’t been able to. His gaze was drawn across the room to where his father’s helmet rested on a small table.

Yes, he and his father had their disagreements. If he was being totally honest, that last year before they left was just one long shouting match. Alec had destroyed any chance of a future for him with SAM and he wouldn’t tell them why he was messing with artificial intelligence.  
Or of the Andromeda Initiative. Six months before, SAM called them. Told them Alec wanted them to return home. Home. That was a laugh. Home had died with mom. He had refused to go but Sarah had finally convinced him. Dragged him behind her, just like she’d been doing since they were born. Dragged him home to the news that home really wasn’t home anymore. For any of them. In six months they would be leaving the galaxy entirely.

Sarah was excited when she heard the news. Of course she was. It was her chance at the discovery of a lifetime. He didn’t care one way or the other. Something inside of him did like the sound of it but he would have been happy staying in the Milky Way with Sarah. But she had wanted to go and he couldn’t imagine his life without her. So, here he was. Dad, dead. Sarah, in a coma and he was the Pathfinder. A Pathfinder whose decision might have lost him...

He groaned and turned his attention back to the reports on his computer that he was supposed to be filling out. He had to focus. The council was waiting on these reports. Reports on what had happened at the exaltation facility. Was it any wonder why his mind kept returning to Jaal?  
He had thought there was something there. Jaal was always inviting him to visit in between missions, when they both had downtime. Showing him his latest project or helping him with understanding Angara society. Once when he had called Jaal to his quarters to help him with a report to Evfra, they had ended up cuddling on the couch. Jaal’s chest pressed into his back as his arms wrapped around him to fix a sentence. In hindsight, maybe Jaal meant nothing by it. The couch was small and Angara were so wide. Plus, they were so much more open to touching and lack of personal space then the Milky Way species.

“Ryder?” Kallo’s voice over the ships comm. pulled him back to the present once more.  
“What is it, Kallo? I’m kind of in the middle of something.”  
“Apologies but we’re nearing the coordinates of the Archon’s ship.”  
“Right.” The map of Meridian. Much more important than overdue reports. Or trying to figure out what he and Jaal might have had. “I’ll be right there. Jaal?”

Shit. That was not the name he meant to say. Stupid mouth.  
“Yes, Pathfinder?” The coolness of Jaal’s tone still saddened him. It was the same tone he used in all his dealings with him since the mission. When he wasn’t avoiding him, that is. “What do you need?”  
Maybe taking Jaal along would be a good thing. He would have to talk to him. And maybe it would start to melt the iciness between them.

“Suit up and meet me on the bridge in five.” Now, who else? “Liam, that goes for you too.” Liam was a master at keeping things light and was Jaal’s closest companion on the ship. If nothing else, he could enjoy listening to them if Jaal still refused to speak to him.  
“Yes, Pathfinder. So ready to sneak right under the Archon’s nose.”

That was the plan. Hopefully, everything went to plan. Hopefully, by the time they returned to the Tempest, they knew the location of Meridian, the Archon would be none the wiser, and Jaal would be talking to him again.  
“Here’s hoping”, he muttered, powering down his computer and making his way to the armoury to suit up himself.


End file.
